Chasing Shadows
by xKumax
Summary: Anouska has always shut herself away from everybody. Her trust is broken and her daily beatings from her bullies mean she always is too. Can one little turtle with a big heart befriend her? Or is she too scared to care anymore? For ChibiLover123.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes-** I don't own the TMNT, yadda yadda. I do own my character, soon to be characters, so no commandeering please.

I thought I'd try a different style. Third person, a different main turtle for the story and a human counterpart. I might not work on this one as often as my Karma stories, but i'll try. Enjoy.

Chapter 1

She was running. She had to run. If she didn't run, they'd have her; they'd claw at her flesh and sneer in her face, they'd snatch her bag and steal her money. After a kick or two, they would leave her, shaking and broken on the floor where a few minutes later, she would pick everything up, including herself. She would jam the broken pieces together and rearrange them until she had a happy façade once again, the one she would wear until she reached her home and until she could crawl into her sanctuary. It was there that the jigsaw of who she was would inevitably crumble into a mess of salt water and pieces that didn't fit.

Anouska had to keep running.

'_Please God, please, not today.'_

As she inwardly pleaded, she shut her sapphire eyes to force her weakness back down. Those small droplets of water were her weakness; she'd always known that, she couldn't ever cry in front of anybody.

For that short moment of darkness, Anouska would pay, it was just her luck. A fallen twig would seek her out to trip her or one of the stones that were falling like rain would sting her, but today it was her feet to betray her. Her left foot clumsily collided with her right, causing her to crash to the ground. The concrete peeled her bare knees and her hands smacked down. It was over.

Instinctively, the chocolate-brown haired girl curled into a ball to protect her ribs so instead, the sneaker found her spine. She howled out in pain as the pack circled her, then closed in. She clung hopelessly to her bag; her blue eyes leaking with her weakness as she tried to hold on.

"Hey!" A squeaky male voice cried.

The pack stopped. The leader cocked his baseball cap clad head at someone Anouska couldn't see.

"Yeah?"

"Um," the voice squeaked, "that's not nice."

"So?"

The rest of the pack sneered and snickered.

"So," he cleared his voice, the squeak temporarily gone, "how about you… um, start… being nice?"

They roared and howled with laughter, their vulnerable prey forgotten for the moment.

"Yer one helluva joker, man." The leader folded his arms. "Why _should_ we play nice?"

"Yeah!"

"Make us!"

Dizzily, Anouska got up, her bag still clutched to her chest and her back complaining from the sting. She rubbed at her eyes roughly, her blurry vision clearing to see the much older kids surrounding someone.

"Why should you play nice? Ha, ha… G-good question, lemme go find out."

The pack closed in.

"Yer funny… funny lookin'."

A snigger rippled around the group.

"Oh wow, did you write that yourself? You did a good job, for a monkey."

"Huh?"

"Um, Tyrone, he's callin' ya a monkey."

Pride hurt, the leader's eyes narrowed dangerously at the one to just insult him.

"Yer toast!"

"Oh, so you get it, good for you!"

"Are ya tryin' ta get yer ass kicked?"

"No thanks!"

In an angry rage, Tyrone lunged forward. Anouska tried desperately to watch the scene unfolding, her height putting her at a disadvantage. As she balanced on her tiptoes, the crowd parted to make way to for a bloody lipped Tyrone stumbling backwards. He lunged again, unsteadily, and the crowd closed. The teenager squeezed through gaps in the group, fighting for a front seat to find herself gazing at a beaten Tyrone.

"Man, he's tough!"

"Beat it!"

As quickly as they'd swarmed, the crowd dispersed, shoving and bumping into an astounded Anouska. Dazed and muttering, the leader stumbled to his feet, eyes widening in fear as he glanced at the only figure left other than the girl he bullies. He whimpered and ran without a glance behind.

"Yeah, um, you better run!"

The petite girl cocked her head at her saviour; bundled up in an outfit more fitting for winter than summer. He finally realised she was looking at him; then tugged his hat down and his scarf up.

"Eep! H-hi." He stammered whilst shuffling his feet.

"Why did you help me?"

He jumped at her voice, blue eyes drifting to meet with hers, then falling back to the ground.

"You needed help… my dad tells me I should help people if they're in trouble."

"But…" Anouska scrunched her face up. "You could have been hurt…"

He merely shrugged, his feet still shuffling nervously. As the young teenager reached out for her rescuer, he shrunk back.

"I'm not gunna hurt you, I-I couldn't…"

She glances nervously in the direction Tyrone ran off in, wondering how this small, strange boy in front of her could fight against somebody so big, and win.

"I won't hurt you!"

He suddenly squeaked out, his head snapping up to look at her and his feet finally staying still. She jumped a little at the outburst, then blinked at him.

"W-what's your name?"

"Anouska."

"I'm M-Michelangelo- I mean, Mikey!"

He resumed his shuffling.

"Michelangelo?"

"Uh, my dad likes strange names…"

"Heh, same here."

"Anoush… Anouks… Anouka…"

"Anouska, Anne-ooh-ska."

"An-An…"

"Call me Anouk."

"You're a girl." He blurted.

A little baffled, but also amused, the blue eyed girl nodded, a small smile playing across her face.

"Uh, yeah, I am. Are you a boy? I can't tell, you're wrapped up like a mummy."

As she dipped her head to look under the peak of his hat, he shrunk back and sub-consciously tugged at his scarf again. The girl, who rarely got to show her funny side, giggled a little at the strange boy in front of her, her bad day put to the back of her mind, for now.

"Thanks… Mikey."

"How do you know my name?!"

His voice squeaked once again and Anouska couldn't help but giggle.

"You told me… about 5 seconds ago."

"Oh. I knew that."

"You beat up those bad kids for me."

Her smile faded and Mikey frowned a little. He knew he shouldn't have stepped out of the shadows, but he couldn't have watched her get beaten up, and he knew he should have run ages ago, but curiosity glued him to the spot.

"Did they hurt you?"

This time, Anouska was the one to shy away.

"Well, they won't do it again... not after I kicked their butts!"

"Yeah they will, they do it every day after school..."

"Somebody should walk you-"

Mikey stopped, realising he'd walked into his own trap and his heart sunk as her eyes lit up into bright blue spheres.

"Would you?"

"I-I can't do it!"

"Why?"

"I-I-I'm home schooled and I'm late for class now, gotta go, bye!"

The strange boy bolted but the young girl quickly followed. She needed to know more about him. She was strangely drawn to him, he was the first person to show her kindness since she could remember, yet, as quickly as he'd appeared in her life, he had disappeared out of it.

She stood in the mouth of the alleyway, her sapphire eyes frantically searching for him, but it was though he'd been gobbled up.

Grudgingly, Anouska slumped home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's notes- **I don't own the TMNT, but I do own Anouska and my other characters introduced in this chapter.

I didn't like the tense I was writing in, so I just changed the tense in chapter 1 but nothing else is different. I'm pretty stuck on my other story so they're might be a few more updates for this one soon. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2

"Hello?"

Her voice came out in a timid squeak and she inwardly pleaded she was the only one at home.

"Is that you Anouska?"

The door to her home clicked shut as the dejected girl slipped off her sneakers. She glanced at her smudged red knees and wished she hadn't worn shorts.

"Yeah dad, it's me." She shouted in the direction of the kitchen, where her father was normally found after school.

"Just you and me for dinner kiddo, Jazz is at Kate's house."

"Okay."

She dumped her bag and hung her jacket on the rickety coat hanger that stood towering over her; her mother's coat was still hanging in the same place it had been for the past 9 years. Sometimes Anouska liked to pretend it was her mom standing there, waiting for her everyday after school. Even at 13, she still believed if she wished hard enough, one day her mom would be standing there, waiting for her to come home.

Anouska closed her eyes, imagining how her mother would gather her up in her arms, the musky perfume that clung to her clothes gently tickling her nose. She would wipe away her tears and put band-aids on her scraped knees then she would kiss her forehead, whispering the precious secret that she'd cooked her favourite dinner.

The young girl's fantasy became so real, when she opened her eyes; she thought she saw her mother standing there for a brief moment but only the musky coat hanger stood there as it always had. With a heavy heart, Anouska climbed the stairs, her knees singing out with every step.

Her mind wandered off as she got into her room. Instead of curling up into a ball and crying, she sat on her windowsill, watching dusk dwindle. Sapphire eyes searched the streets; just in the hope her hero would walk past.

Shortly after, she was called for dinner. She hardly touched her food but her father never noticed.

Anouska loved her dad more than anything, but after the death of her mother, he hadn't been the same. He was a ghost; trapped in a life with too many questions he couldn't find the answers to. He was physically alive, but that's where his liveliness ended, his passion and joy for everything was long since dead.

After helping with the dishes, the teenage drifted upstairs to once again watch out of her window. The hours of silence ticked by, until eventually, she felt her eyelids fall heavy and that was all she knew for the next 8 hours.

* * *

"Anouk?"

Still asleep, she stirred at the voice, a small grumble echoing through her throat.

"Anouk…? Anouk!"

She rolled over, but nothing was there to catch her, the pain of her knees hitting the floor woke her. She groaned and rolled onto her back where she lay staring at the crumbling, cracked ceiling. The house she lived in reflected the people in it; whilst her and her father crumbled, her sister was icy cold.

Jasmine would often sneer at her younger sister. If she wasn't sniping or sniggering, she was ignoring Anouska. In time, she learned to let Jazz do whatever she wanted, she couldn't say much to hurt her anymore.

"Anouska, breakfast!"

The bruised and battered girl got to her feet, her cramped muscles crying as she stretched out and shivered her way into the bathroom. With a shudder, the shower spat out icy water. Anouska undressed, and still shivering stepped under the water. Her fingertips traced the fading yellow bruises across her pale stomach and jutting ribs, then reached for the small of her back. She winced as her fingers found the place where the sneaker had hit her spine from the previous day. Unable to stand the sight of herself for much longer, Anouska quickly finished showering.

When she was out of the shower and dressed for school, her father had already left for work. He had scrawled a quick note on the shopping list chalkboard, 'Breakfast is on the table, your lunch money is by the salt', and left without another word.

Silently, she sat at the pitiful excuse for a table and slowly chewed the lukewarm toast that had been left for her. As she watched the minutes painfully clock by, her mind wandered off, a single word bumping through her brain, 'Mikey'.

8am approached, signalling the time for the teenager's departure for school.

Her light bag was slung onto her shoulder as she breezed through the door, making sure to lock it and place the only key under the mat.

As she walked, Anouska twisted and turned in her steps as she did every day, heart thudding at any sound of laughter or footsteps. Twisting her head behind her for the ninth time, her fragile body bumped into something and she quickly snapped her head back around. She expected Tyrone or one of his gang, but instead she met a bundled up boy and she recognised his baby blue eyes straight away.

"Mikey..."

"Sorry! I just, I-I-I…"

The young girl stepped back a little to give him some room and examine him; she felt as though the day before she'd hardly looked at him other than his eyes.

"It's okay, I didn't hear you coming, I'm a little clumsy."

The two young teens stood staring at each other, before shyly twisting their heads away, a hot blush rising to their cheeks.

"H-have you come to walk me to school?"

"Yeah, I mean, no! I mean, uh…"

"You don't have to-"

Anouska stopped, perking at the harsh laughter behind her. She turned and watched as Tyrone emerged from a house not far behind them with a few of his gang members, one of them immediately spotting her.

Instinctively, her legs jumped into life and she began to run, not noticing she'd clutched Mikey's hand in her panic. The two dashed down the street, the older teens shouting and running after them. As they approached the corner, Mikey tugged her around it then quickly pulled Anouska into an alleyway where they ducked behind some trashcans. Scared of breathing too heavily, both held their breath and listened carefully.

"Where did the hell they go?!" Tyrone's snarl was clear, indicating he was close.

"C'mon man, leave it, we'll get 'em later."

"That pipsqueak bitch, I'll get her, she'll see, an' her freaky friend."

"Tyrone, come _on_."

Anouska breathed out heavily as she heard their footsteps plod away.

"That was close."

She turned to her new friend and her breath caught in her throat. Goosebumps rippled over her skin as she quickly stood and accidently knocked over one of the trashcans.

"What?"

Mikey finally breathed then he realised why she was staring. He felt the air on his face and his bald, green head; his mask had finally fallen away. He was green, he was a turtle and he felt very stupid.

"Anouk, I-"

"I **swear** I heard a trashcan tip, an' if it's those kids…"

Tyrone was on his way back and Mikey had to think fast. Tugging his hat back on, he took the bewildered, sapphire-eyed girl's hand and fled for the manhole cover that led to the place he knew they'd be safe, the sewers.


End file.
